Spider on the Floor - Books You Can Sing

Spider on the Floor by Raffi
Illustrated by True Kelley (Alfred A. Knopf, 2002, First Board Book)

What's that scribbling across your neck? Does it have eight legs? Little furry feet? Sticky webbing? Aaahhhhhhhhh . . .

Fall is soon to be upon us.

With that seasonal change, it seems that spiders are dashing to get inside before the first freeze. Baby spiders have grown up into big, hairy scurrying arachnids. Spider on the Floor is the perfect bridge between screaming in terror as a spider scuttles across your bare toes and mollifying your children so that they can accept the importance of spiders in the food chain systems of the Earth!

Children love Raffi and his Songs to Read. Or as I phrase it, Books You Can Sing.

Meet the spider. On the floor.

This voraciously web-spinning spider takes on bigger and bigger things - until he catches all of you. And he jumps off. To start all over again.

Fingers work great for the spider - which travels up one's body. Or, buy those plastic spider rings to use while singing and acting out the song. They work perfect.

Listen to "Spider on the Floor" on Youtube or purchase a CD that contains this delightful and fun children's song. Either way, it will be a definite hit!

And while you're at it, here are some fun activities to do about spiders.

1. Get or make a bug catcher cage. Go on a spider hunt to catch one. As per lesson learned at personal experience, release one spider before adding another spider, or they may fight and eat each other! You can try to catch prey for them and watch them suck out the juices.

2. As soon as the dew starts collecting in the cool mornings, go on a web walk. Take a camera. Watch for beautiful droplet-decorated webs. Shoot away.

3. Read some books. The libraries are full of great spider books. Check out an identification book so that you can name that beautiful guy hanging out in the garden.

4. Make a spider. Use a Styrofoam ball for the body (you can paint it whatever color you want). Add chenille stems for legs (8, remember?). Glue on googly eyes (again, 8 is the perfect number) and short pieces of chenille stems for the pedipalps (those little finger things by the spider's mouth that help hold the prey) and chelicerae (sharp beak looking parts near the mouth) . Hang from the ceiling with string or hide in a spot to scare someone!

5. Start a nature journal. Sketch your live spider on the first page. Add details like where you found it, how large it is, and so on. Color it with colored pencils. Add to your journal each time you find an interesting specimen.

6. Need I say web? Make your own spider web (get permission first) by stringing masking tape back and forth on the walls down a hallway. Try and navigate the web crossing without getting stuck!


Have fun with those eight-legged arachnids of the scary category. "There's a spider on the floor, on the floor. . .

Thanks, Raffi.